


Coffee Shop

by knight_fury (psychobabblers)



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), DCU, Superman Returns (2006)
Genre: Fluff, JLA mentioned, M/M, Pre-Slash, it's all the fault of that crazy evil wannabe villain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-24
Updated: 2011-04-24
Packaged: 2017-10-18 14:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/189835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychobabblers/pseuds/knight_fury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A casual meeting at a coffeeshop gets Clark and Bruce into an unexpected adventure of sorts while being trapped by a sudden snowstorm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Write about getting snowed in (with no chance of escape) at a small local coffee shop.

They were trapped. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent were sitting in a coffee shop when Clark had noticed out of the corner of his eye a suspicious looking man. Well the man himself wasn’t all that suspicious-looking, but the strange contraption he was carrying in his hands certainly was. Especially when he declared, “I am the Weather-Master!”

For heaven’s sake, Clark thought. The man didn’t even have a ridiculous costume so that he could be identified as a crazy before he went out to disrupt morning traffic. He was halfway out his seat with an “Excuse me” to Bruce when the man had dramatically pressed a button on the box and the coffee shop had promptly been engulfed in a mountain of ice and snow.

Oh well, Clark thought. I guess he wasn’t that crazy after all.

Bruce, of course, leapt to the door as soon as his eyes had fallen on the man but it was already sealed shut. He crossed his arms and grumbled irritably under his breath, but Clark of course, could hear every word. He winced and put a hand on the over man's arm. "Come on,” he said, trying for a placatory tone, “I’m sure the rest of the Justice League can handle this without us. I can hardly just zap a door for us through the window here. And besides, there could be worse things to happen than getting snowed in in a coffee shop with me right?"

Bruce tried to glare at him, but he knew he had lost the instant a tendril of hurt had crept into Clark's tone. As soon as the glare wavered, there was a sudden blurring in front of him and the hot chocolate waved under his nose sealed the deal. He sighed, swallowed his protests and followed Clark back to their table.

The owner of the shop, a motherly looking woman, bustled by their table. "I'm so sorry that you're stuck here," she said, looking harried and distressed.

"That’s alright ma'am," Clark said cheerfully. "It’s not your fault. And anyway, as I was saying to my friend here, there are plenty of worse places to be stuck in than a charming, warm place that has food and drink."

Clark kicked Bruce under the table when he remained silent. Bruce softened the scowl he hadn't realized had crept back onto his face and added his assent.

The woman beamed. "You’re very sweet," she said to them.

When she left, promising to bring them some cookies "on the house for such nice young men" and waving away Bruce's attempt to pay, Bruce took the opportunity to really look around at the place. He watched the customers as they— some reluctantly but most good-naturedly— resigned themselves to staying until the firefighters could come break them out, while Clark watched Bruce watching them. He felt a rush of fondness for the prickly, brilliant man he had come to think of as "friend."

"What are you smiling about?" Bruce grumbled, but Clarks smile just grew wider when he heard the undercurrent of amusement in his voice. When no answer was forthcoming, Bruce shrugged. Clark didn't really need a reason to smile, he thought. He wondered what it would feel like to live that way, to not feel pain or hurt.

But no, that wasn't right either. It wasn't that Clark never felt pain; it was that he was determined to feel _joy_. As determined as Bruce was not to. Bruce looked at the laughing blue eyes across from him and was suddenly proud to call this extraordinary individual his...friend. And really, when had that happened? When had he worked his way into Bruce's affections? He found that for once he didn't really care to find out. He doubted that even the greatest detective in the world could pinpoint an exact moment, especially as he was that detective.

They drank their hot chocolate in companionable silence, letting the mindless chatter of the other customers fill the air between them. It was pleasant, Clark decided. It was really too bad Bruce was apparently only willing to spend time with him if he was forced. Maybe he could convince him to come here again, just the two of them. his mind sketched out what it would be like the next time they came here, how they could go for a walk in the park and maybe he could convince Bruce to have a snowball fight, and then perhaps he would let Clark dry his wet clothing with his heat vision or he could offer him a change of clothing at his apartment. Clark inhaled a mouthful of hot chocolate when he realized his heart was doing happy back flips at the thought of Bruce in his apartment and coughed, sputtering. He noticed Bruce watching him with an eyebrow raised when he could finally draw breath again.

"Thanks for the help," he grumbled, wiping his mouth with a napkin and trying not to remember what had caused him to choke. He hoped Bruce would take his red face as from the coughing and not because of the direction his thoughts had strayed to. Not that mind reading was a power that the Batman had acquired but he entertained a brief fantasy where Bruce did read his thoughts and didn’t mind at all, didn’t mind how he was imagining how soft-looking lips would taste when he ran his tongue over them _and he really needed to stop thinking about it right now._

"I don't know what you expected me to do," Bruce said, throwing his hands up, not seeming to notice Clark’s flushed face. "Besides, I've seen you catch a grenade in your hand and not even flinch when it exploded. I doubt a little hot chocolate was going to do you in."

“Well you still could have made an effort,” Clark groused, shifting in his seat a little. “Choking on a drink is like a watered-down version of drowning you know. Life-threatening and all that.”

Bruce’s smile suddenly grew predatory. Clark tried to ignore what that smirking mouth was doing to his…lower regions. “Well Bruce Wayne can hardly be expected to deal with life threatening issues,” Bruce practically purred. “The Batman, on the other hand,” his voice dropped a few notches into the hoarse growl Clark associated with shadowed forms and the twisted spires of Gotham, “would never let a helpless man like yourself drown.”

He leaned forward, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips and Clark’s eyes were irresistibly drawn to that quirk. “And of course, standard procedure for a drowning victim,” Bruce rasped in Batman’s voice and then Clark was lunging forward to capture the teasing lips in a kiss, enjoying how Bruce’s eyes widened for a split second before slitting with pleasure. Detachedly, he registered that his hands had removed the hot chocolates between them to the side of the table so that they wouldn’t be knocked over. The thought was enough to make him gasp out a sudden laugh.

Bruce pulled back. “What is it now?” he asked in exasperation, remembering his earlier appreciation for Clark’s determined joyousness but unable to summon any feelings of appreciation at the moment. He suddenly felt wary and forced himself to listen carefully to Clark’s laughter to determine whether it was edged with hysteria.

“I’m just,” Clark said, noticing his expression, “It’s just…It all fell into place.” Bruce remained tense.

Completely serious now, Clark placed a hesitant hand on one of Bruce’s own. “It was like stepping into the sunlight for the first time,” he murmured. “Just _right._ ”

The tension finally seeped out of Bruce’s shoulders. He started to reply but—

“There you are, dears!” the woman had returned with the promised cookies. The moment slipped away as Bruce listened to Clark’s cheery exclamations of thanks.

“Gosh these look delicious!” Clark said and the woman’s smile widened. Despite himself, Bruce grinned too. Clark could charm anyone he met if he set his mind to it. Including the Batman apparently.

Laughing blue eyes met his own from where their owner was still chattering at the woman. Bruce wondered if another crazy evil villain wannabe would trap them again when he asked Clark if he would like to come eat at the shop next week.

He didn't think he'd mind all that much if one did.


End file.
